Hunan: I Love the Deep Red Azaleas (Duijuanhua) of My Hometown - Plum Blossoms Blooming in Jiangnan's Mountain Scenery in March
Author / Xiaoming
The spring rain falls softly, intermittently stopping and starting, giving people the opportunity to listen to its voice. I think, besides the vast fields of yellow rapeseed, the plum blossoms in the Xiaoshan region should also begin to adorn the mountains. Comrade Shaohua, the wife of Chairman Mao, wrote an article titled 'I Love Xiaoshan's Plum Blossoms'.
The wild plum blossoms in the mountains of our hometown are mostly red, which we call 'plum blossoms' or 'Xiaoshan plum blossoms'. Like many other flowers, they bloom in the spring, but they are particularly vibrant and unassuming. Whether on steep cliffs or gently sloping hillsides, plum blossoms are visible everywhere.
They grow in clusters of three or two, resembling many beautiful young women playing in the mountains. If you don't mind getting wet, if you go hiking after the rain, you can enjoy the refreshing scenery of their delicate, glistening bodies with water droplets still clinging to them.
When we were young, we often ran up the mountain in groups, lost in the ocean of flowers and green leaves. Alongside the plum blossoms, there's another flower, known to the locals as 'tiger flower,' which is said to be poisonous.
Later, we learned that it was actually *Rhododendron luteum*, a species of rhododendron. Its flowers are large and pure yellow. If we compare plum blossoms to adorable young ladies, then 'tiger flower' is a proud and aloof mature woman. We tried several times to climb the mountain to pick a single 'tiger flower,' but we were afraid of its inherent toxicity.
The plum blossoms, on the other hand, don't mind our childish games. On the mountain path, we would pluck a plump blossom and remove its pistil, then put it in our mouths, enjoying the sweet and slightly sour taste with a hint of fragrance. We often picked a bunch of red flowers to bring home and arrange them in glass jars. We wished to capture its beauty on our table.
Elegant and not plump, simple yet not lonely, the plum blossoms once attracted many young men and women in our hometown. Looking at the flowers in city parks, thousands upon thousands, tightly packed together, without elegance or vitality, blooming for people, how could they compare to the plum blossoms of our hometown.
There are countless kinds of flowers in the world, each with its own charm, and the plum blossoms of our hometown are simple and unassuming. They come year after year, accompanying me through my entire childhood.
The children of our time have grown up, but the beauty of the plum blossoms has never faded. After experiencing the vicissitudes of life and seeing many beautiful flowers, it is still captivating in its simplicity.
I love the plum blossoms of my hometown.
